We have quite a few things for you today. Let’s get to things without further delay.
NEWS
The National Football League has reason to smile after seeing the numbers for Divisional Weekend. After seeing lower ratings and viewership for Wild Card Weekend, the NFL saw significantly higher numbers this past weekend thanks to having glamor teams such as Dallas, Denver, Green Bay and New England in this round.
The NFL says Divisional Playoff Weekend was the most-watched ever. We have the press release for you.
‘14 DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS MOST-WATCHED EVER
AVERAGE OF 37.8 MILLION VIEWERS TUNED IN
COWBOYS-PACKERS ON FOX SECOND MOST-WATCHED DIVISIONAL GAME EVER
COLTS-BRONCOS ON CBS SECOND MOST-WATCHED AFC DIVISIONAL EVERAn average of 37.8 million viewers watched the four Divisional Playoff games last weekend, making it the most-watched NFL Divisional Weekend ever, topping the previous record (36.6 million, 2011).
Sunday afternoon’s Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers matchup on FOX averaged 44.4 million viewers to rank as the second most-watched Divisional game on record (New York Giants-Green Bay Packers, 1/15/12, FOX, 45.1 million), and the most-watched show since Super Bowl XLVIII.
The Indianapolis Colts–Denver Broncos game on CBS drew 41.8 million viewers to rank as the second most-watched AFC Divisional Playoff game since at least 1987 (New York Jets-New England Patriots, 1/16/11, CBS, 43.5 million).
Saturday afternoon’s Baltimore Ravens-New England Patriots game on NBC averaged 34.0 million viewers to rank as the third-most watched Saturday AFC Divisional game on record. The Carolina Panthers-Seattle Seahawks game on FOX rounded out the weekend averaging 31.0 million viewers, the network’s most-watched primetime Saturday NFL Playoff game ever.
Since the 2014 Academy Awards, eight NFL games have accounted for the only programs on television to average at least 30 million viewers – four Divisional playoff games, one Wild Card playoff game and three regular-season games.
Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company, Fast National Data
Now to the linkage.
LINKAGE
Mike Shields of the Wall Street Journal says ESPN aired its first programmatic ad within SportsCenter last weekend.
If you can’t get through the WSJ’s dreaded paywall, we have a story on the programmatic ad from Tyler Loechner of Mediapost.
We have video of how it looked:
Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated says the Film Room was the star of the ESPN College Football Playoff Megacast.
Your humble blogger wrote a Bests and Worsts column of the Megacast at Awful Announcing.
Liana B. Baker of Reuters has a story on YouTube channel Whistle Sports aimed at children and millennials raising $28 million in funding.
Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report notes that Cris Collinsworth is not backing down from defending NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during the Ravens-Pats Divisional Playoff game.
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that CBS Radio has extended the contracts of 98.5 the Sports Hub afternoon drive hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti.
Newsday’s Neil Best profiles the NFL on Fox’s rules analyst Mike Pereira.
Ken Schott from the Schenectady Daily Gazette says Buffalo Bills fans will be able to watch the Rex Ryan introductory press conference live today.
Sports Media Watch’s Paulsen gives us some perspective on the record ratings for the College Football Playoff Championship
At Yahoo! Canada, Chris Zelkovich says the NFL is doing well for CTV and TSN.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
NBC has released this weekend’s English Premier League schedule. There will be doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
| Date | Time | Match | Network |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 9 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Queens Park Rangers v. Manchester United | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Swansea City v. Chelsea | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Aston Villa v. Liverpool | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Tottenham v. Sunderland | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Leicester City v. Stoke City | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 10 a.m. | Burnley v. Crystal Palace | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 12:30 p.m. | Newcastle v. Southampton | NBC, mun2 |
| Sat., Jan. 17 | 2:30 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBC |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 1 a.m. | Match of the Day | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 6:30 a.m. | Match of the Day | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 7:30 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 8:30 a.m. | West Ham v. Hull City | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 11 a.m. | Manchester City v. Arsenal | NBCSN, Telemundo |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 1 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 18 | 1:30 p.m. | Match of the Day II | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 1 a.m. | Match of the Week | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 1:30 p.m. | Premier League News | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 2 p.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 3 p.m. | Everton v. West Brom | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 5 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 10 p.m. | THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 19 | 11:30 p.m. | Premier League Review | NBCSN |
| Tues., Jan. 20 | 12:30 a.m. | Premier League Encore | NBCSN |
| Tues., Jan. 20 | 11:30 p.m. | Premier League Encore | NBCSN |
ESPN and Tennis Channel have released their Australian Open schedules. Here in the States, the Open begins on Sunday in primetime. Tennis Channel will start the coverage each night at 6 p.m. ET with a one-hour pregame show, then the first matches of the day session at 7 p.m. ET. Then ESPN2 will take over most nights at 9 p.m. ET and run until 7 a.m. the next morning provided the night session in Melbourne doesn’t run over.
ESPN will air both the men’s and women’s semifinal as well as the men’s and women’s finals live.
With the 16 hour time difference, day sessions begin at 7 p.m. ET/11 a.m. Australian EDT and the night sessions in the wee hours of the morning at 3 a.m. ET/7 p.m. in Melbourne.
Here’s Tennis Channel’s schedule:
Tennis Channel’s Live Australian Open Coverage (all times ET)
Sunday, Jan. 18 — 6 p.m.-7 p.m., Pre-Tournament Welcome
Monday, Jan. 19 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., First Round
Tuesday, Jan. 20 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Second Round
Wednesday, Jan. 21 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Second Round
Thursday, Jan. 22 — 6 p.m.-11 p.m., Third Round
Friday, Jan. 23 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Third Round
Saturday, Jan. 24 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Round of 16
Sunday, Jan. 25 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Round of 16
Monday, Jan. 26 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Jan. 27 — 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals
Wednesday, Jan. 28 — 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m., TBA
Thursday, Jan. 29 — 10 p.m.-3:30 a.m., Mixed Doubles Semifinal and Women’s Doubles Final
Saturday, Jan. 31 — 5:30 a.m.-8 a.m., Men’s Doubles Final
Sunday, Feb. 1 — 12 a.m.-2 a.m., Mixed Doubles Final
Tennis Channel’s team will consist of Brett Haber as host, Bill Macatee on the play-by-play, Justin Gimelstob and Martina Navratilova will be analysts and Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim will be the insider.
Here’s ESPN/ESPN2’s schedule:
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2015
(For these charts, all times are Eastern, and each day “begins” at 6 a.m. ET.)
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Network | |
| Sun, Jan 18 | 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. | Early round play | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| Mon, Jan 19 | 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| Tue, Jan 20 | 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day |
| 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Wed, Jan 21 | 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day |
| 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Thu, Jan 22 | 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day |
| 11 p.m. – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Fri, Jan 23 | 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day |
| 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Sat, Jan 24 | 9 a.m. – Noon | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day |
| 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. | Round of 16 | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Sun, Jan 25 | 3 – 7 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day | |
| 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Mon, Jan 26 | 3 – 6:30 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day | |
| 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. | Quarterfinals | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Tue, Jan 27 | 3 – 6 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day | |
| 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Wed, Jan 28 | 3:30 – 6 a.m. | “ | ESPN2 | LIVE |
| 3 – 6 p.m. | “ | ESPN2 | Same-day | |
| 9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. | Women’s Semifinals | ESPN2 | LIVE | |
| Thu, Jan 29 | 3:30 – 6 a.m. | Men’s Semifinal #1 | ESPN | LIVE |
| 2 – 6 p.m. | Men’s Semifinal #1 | ESPN2 | Encore | |
| Fri, Jan 30 | 3:30 – 6 a.m. | Men’s Semifinal #2 | ESPN | LIVE |
| 2 – 6 p.m. | Men’s Semifinal #2 | ESPN2 | Encore | |
| Sat, Jan 31 | 3 – 5:30 a.m. | Women’s Championship | ESPN | LIVE |
| 9 – 11 a.m. | Women’s Championship | ESPN2 | Encore | |
| Sun, Feb 1 | 3 – 6:30 a.m. | Men’s Championship | ESPN | LIVE |
| 9 a.m. – Noon | Men’s Championship | ESPN2 | Encore |
The on-air team consists of Chris McKendry as host. Chris Fowler, fresh off calling the College Football Playoff National Championship, Cliff Drysdale and Tom Rinaldi calling matches. Analysts include John McEnroe making his Aussie Open debut for ESPN. He’s called the Australian Open on 7 Network and Fox Sports in Australia in the past. Mainstays Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, Mary Joe Fernandez and Brad Gilbert are back. Also making his ESPN tennis debut is former coach Jason Goodall.
ESPN3 will stream some 800 hours of coverage from as many as 13 courts, that’s up from 500 hours last year.
There you have it. A pretty full notebook for today.
